a heart of thanksgiving & a painted pallet sign

Were you expecting a post sprinkled with cranberries, flavored with squash, or buried in butter? Sorry to disappoint you, my friend. But there's just no need for me to reinvent the Thanksgiving wheel. My ma is truly the queen of Thanksgiving. I do my part setting the table, taste testing, washing dishes, singing "let's have a parade!", making deviled eggs, eating everything...but mostly my job is helping the Thanksgiving queen simultaneously make 20+ beautiful, flavorful dishes ready to serve in one single moment. It's a completely homemade and completely perfect Thanksgiving. There's absolutely nothing that needs to be added. Nothing. Well, except a precious Montana family sitting around the table with us...soon enough!

Instead of thanksgiving food, let's talk about a heart of thanksgiving. I'm taking a step back and working on truly be filled with thankfulness in every season. Thankfulness that I was blessed to be born into such a family. Blessed to never know hunger. Blessed to be taught kindness, truth, and love. Blessed to know Jesus. Blessed to be married to a man that desires my good and loves always. Some days thanksgiving is hard. Life trips us up. The world is broken. The hurt is real. The waves are big.

Because I'm a visual, verbal person (does that even make sense?) I decided to make a sign to remind us each day to be thankful. Remember wayyy back in the beginning of summer when I shared a collection of projects in various stages of "doneness"? Well, I'm finally making progress! That lonely rugged, slightly warped, nail-filled plank I found in my parent's garage has been given a new life. It now reminds us every morning to choose joy. Even when stormy seas surround us, our Anchor holds. Just a simple line from Hebrews that speaks to my heart. My soul is firm and secure in the Lord. I know the One that can calm the storm. And that in itself should be cause for thanksgiving in my heart and overflow into my life.

Looking to beautify your own plank of wood? It takes just a few simple steps:


1. Use a pencil to write the words out. I prefer the authentic handwritten look. But if you've got horrible penmanship, find a friend. Or print out the words in a font you like and use them as a guide.

Don't worry I didn't actually paint on the chest, mom. I paint on the carpet instead...;)

2. Paint over the pencil with an acrylic paint and a small paintbrush. I mixed a squirt of black acrylic craft paint into a little leftover sample Behr paint called Silver Charm. The product was a gray blue - perfectly illustrating a storm at sea. Once the paint dries, erase any visible pencil marks.

3. Sand over the wood focusing on the words with fine grit sand paper to give the words a weathered-look. Vacuum periodically to better view your progress.

Display somewhere you can be reminded to live with thankfulness for life's everyday ordinary blessings.

and Celebrate It!